Houdini’s Big Break

On March 14, 1899 Houdini received this telegraph posted here from Martin Beck who had seen Houdini appear at the Palm Garden Beer Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Houdini opened on March 26th at the Creighton-Orpheum Theater in Omaha, Nebraska and was held over for a second week.

Houdini reported here as a note with his signature that his appearance ”Was talk of the town” and Houdini also notes on the telegraph that “the wire changed my whole life’s journey”.

It not only changed the life career of Houdini but also changed the history of the magical performing arts.

He then played another two week stint at the Orpheum in Kansas City where he received a great review for a new routine he added to his act: The East Indian Needle Trick.

Houdini continued appearing in theaters around the country and would use his escapes from handcuffs, shackles, straight jackets, and chained crates tossed of bridges into the city rivers as a way to get major publicity, into the papers, boost awareness where he was appearing and attract ticket buyers to the theaters.

As momentum of these tactics and publicity ploys, Houdini continued to grab the attention of everyone in every city and people were filling the theaters to solely see the performance of “The Great Houdini”.

This would continue for his entire career and Houdini became such a legendary master showman that he made an impact on american history.